tiresome but nonetheless always sure of itself

Everyone is consumed in a conversation about white economic insecurity versus racial animus and what caused this catastrophe. There is, of course, plenty of blame to go around. The key is to focus on what has changed since 2012, when Obama won the states naively referred to as the Blue Wall – the ‘Rust Belt’ deindustrialized states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. These are states that once belonged to the Democratic coalition which emerged in the post-Roosevelt era as a stronghold for working class and African-American voting power. […]

As protests ramp up in coastal cities, police prepare to quell them, by looking the other way. People unsatisfied and angry at the outcome of the election have been staging daily protests in metropolitan areas with varying levels of success. This has not gone unnoticed by the national press and the President Elect himself, ranging from between disdain and calls to crush the protests with police powers. And while organizers against an authoritarian president expect the police to fight back, hard, they also know that one of the strongest weapons […]

All of us are struggling with what to do next. Thankfully, there are people who already know. Much hay is made by opponents of social justice about ‘professional protesters’ and their nefarious habit of bussing people to events and voting booths, organizing their communities for political action and real change. Our soon to be former president was derided by his rivals for community organizing, a practice which hails from the very greatest traditions in this country and elsewhere. Martin Luther King wasn’t a politician, professional […]

Citizens all over the country and all over the world refuse to back down from the outcome of this election. Here are some images that should make you feel that you are not alone. Get into the streets again tonight and demonstrate your power.

They say elections have consequences, but they rarely remind you how permanent those consequences can be. The plan for Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office have been available for some time. If you’re like me, you read through them before today because you wanted to see if there was some special sauce that most of us were missing about this putrid man and his vague but ominous promises to remake our country. But no one will blame you if this is the first time you’re seeing this, […]

It is a dark day in the United States, and the world. While a slim majority of American voters chose to back the multicultural, urban, liberal party of incremental progress, enough people, in the states that mattered most, chose to throw the election to a reactionary populist who openly attacked ethnic and religious minorities, and will use the powers of the state to prosecute his enemies, foreign and domestic. There is little comfort in looking to government in the short term – the people with the power of appointment, […]

2 out of 3 white Americans voted for Trump, including women, including college and non-college. That means if you’re white, most people in your family voted for Trump. Have a good Thanksgiving. The United States has always been a colonial state where one ethnic group rules over others. But the Obama elections signaled a possible shift to a true multicultural coalition that could rule from the cities and establish a generally egalitarian state. This election reverses that. We are apparently still a nation divided by ethnicity, even more than by […]